Joseph Pagan and Jacqueline “Jackie” Neumann were traveling in a car in New Baltimore in September 2012 when Pagan tried to take a picture of her.

Neumann slapped the camera out of his hand, and Pagan responded by punching her three times in her arm, causing a welt, according to court documents.

Neumann drove to the local police station to report the incident, and police found crack cocaine belonging to Pagan in the vehicle. He was arrested for domestic and possession of less than 25 grams of a controlled substance and convicted of criminal charges.

Less than a year later, last August, Pagan beat, shot and suffocated Neumann in her Clinton Township manufactured home and is now charged with first-degree murder. He also is facing a count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for shooting her in the crotch.

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Pagan, 39, of Detroit and formerly of Casco Township, appeared in Macomb County Circuit Court on Monday for a hearing during which the judge ordered a second mental evaluation to determine whether he is competent to stand trial and was criminally responsible for his actions.

Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor William Cataldo did not oppose the second exam.

A state psychiatrist opined after the first evaluation last fall, and a judge agreed, Pagan was mentally unfit to help in his defense. He regained mental “competency” earlier this year and last month was ordered by Judge Linda Davis of 41B District Court to face the charges in circuit court.

During that preliminary hearing, township police Detective Dan Quinn testified Pagan made several admissions to the gruesome details.

To determine if Pagan’s statement was properly accepted, Pagan’s attorney, Jeffrey Cojocar, said Monday he will likely seek a Walker Hearing, an evidentiary hearing on a defendant’s motion to suppress an incriminating statement.

Circuit Judge Edward Servitto said because the mental evaluation will be conducted by a private psychiatrist, he expects it will be “expedited” and scheduled the next court date for only three weeks away, July 28.

Servitto on Monday also held off on ruling on whether Pagan violated probation in the prior case by being charged with the murder, to wait for the mental evaluation report.

Pagan’s assault of Neumann occurred roughly about a year after Pagan also allegedly threatened Neumann and her 11-year-old son in a telephone message after she had ended their relationship.

“He said, ‘Jackie, I promise I will kill you and your son,’ ” Jim Neumann, Jackie Neumann’s ex-husband and father of the boy, previously told The Macomb Daily. Jim Neumann reported the threat to the Grosse Pointe Farms police in his hometown and added police warned Pagan to stay away from the Neumann family.

He added about a year before her death she began renting the mobile home at Rudgate Clinton near Metropolitan Parkway and Groesbeck Highway from his parents, in part to hide from Pagan.

About the Author

My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
Read more of Jameson Cook's court coverage on his blog http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/ Reach the author at jamie.cook@macombdaily.com
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